Saturday, May 19, 2018

(Scheveningen, The Netherlands)- Hosted by the Jachtclub Scheveningen,
the North Sea Regatta is the largest event hosted in the Netherlands
each year for a host of one-design classes (dinghies, cats, and
keelboats like J/22s and J/80s) and offshore ORC/IRC classes.

The event kicked off on May 8th with the Vuurschepen Race, a North Sea
Regatta Feeder Race that goes from the starting line off The Hague
(Scheveningen) and takes a 3 mark course of 130nm across the North Sea
to Harwich in the United Kingdom. Several J/teams were sailing and
almost all had podium finishes!

After
a two-day layover, on the 11th of May, teams representing Belgium,
Denmark, France, Great Britain and the Netherlands entered the 181nm
North Sea Race; the start was off Harwich, England and finished in
Scheveningen, The Netherlands. The race was organized by the Royal Ocean
Racing Club, in association with the Royal Harwich Yacht Club, the East
Anglian Offshore Racing Association, and the Yacht Club Scheveningen.

“The race was mostly upwind and reaching, with very few teams getting
their spinnakers out of the bag,” commented RORC Racing Manager, Chris
Stone. “Conditions conspired to favor the smaller yachts, as the faster
boats did not get the breeze that arrived later in the race. Over the
course of the season, favorable conditions will average out through the
fleet. Well done to the teams that did well, even when the conditions
are right for your team, you still have to put in a top performance to
win your class, and have a chance of the overall win.”

“We are very please with our result, as Two-handed racing in Holland has
become very popular and very competitive.” commented AJETO’s Robin
Verhoef. “Our J/122e was specially built for Two-handed sailing, and we
love to sail that way because we don't need any more crew or all the
additional equipment and provisions required when more people are on
board. We do have systems designed for two-handed racing, and our
preparation is always a big part of producing the best performance.”

As a result, the three teams that are dominating the podium for the
overall regatta in the ORC Two-handed Division are AJETO on top,
followed by JUNIQUE and FIRESTORM.